


yellow

by missbolton



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, basically james looks hot in yellow and lilys like 'wow', lily realising that maybe potter isn't as ugly as she'd thought, very short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 04:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13516605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbolton/pseuds/missbolton
Summary: If there’s one thing James Potter is, it’s predictable. Same hair, same smile, same jokes.Lily likes that.So when he comes to breakfast wearing yellow, her jaw falls open of its own accord.





	yellow

 

Yellow doesn’t suit him. 

Lily has always been so sure when it comes to James Potter. She is sure that he is arrogant, filled with nothing but self-assurance. She is sure that him and his moronic group of friends will drive her mad one day. She is sure that James Potter and his weak advances will never, ever affect the way she lives her life.

If there’s one thing James Potter is, it’s predictable. Same hair, same smile, same terrible jokes. Lily likes that. Lily likes being able to second guess what he’s about to do, never at the mercy of surprise.

So when he comes to breakfast wearing  _ yellow _ , her jaw falls open of its own accord. 

Lily is acutely aware of her two friends fixing her with puzzled looks, but forgive her for being  _ slightly  _ distracted. Because James Potter and yellow don’t work. His hair looks too dark and his skin is too tanned. Somehow, even though she swears that Potter will never resemble anything  _ close _ to attractive, yellow changes him. The striking scarlet of Gryffinndor which he usually sports makes him blend in, and then he’s just another Quidditch player with so much arrogance Lily’s surprised his head hasn’t exploded. 

But it’s the Easter holidays, when nobody has to wear uniform, and for some bizarre reason Potter has decided to wear …  _ that. _

The gaudy colour makes him look different. Too different. Yellow makes his smile even brighter, causes his teeth to glimmer whiter than Lily ever thought possible. He’s usually bright, anyway, with sharp hazel eyes and a crooked grin, but when he wears yellow, it highlights everything. It makes everything brighter to an unbearable extent.

At some point, he catches her staring. Lily attempts to rip her gaze away but doesn’t quite manage it in time. It’s almost as if she can see the satisfaction swelling up in his chest, and he raises his chin a few inches and flashes her a grin.

It happens to be a total accident, too, that she smiles back.

Mary and Dorcas watch the scene unfold with wide, disbelieving eyes. Lily lets the smile melt off her face once she’s realised what she’s done, her face morphing into an expression much like her two friends wear. It's a widely known fact that Lily Evans won't ever grace that boy with more than dry, sarcastic responses and sharply raised eyebrows. It's an even wider known fact that she finds him utterly and totally repulsive, despite the majority of the female population swooning over the quirk of his lips or a twinkle of his eyes.

Maybe those widely known facts are wrong, after all. 

“You just smiled,” says Dorcas. Her smile is slow to appear, but it does eventually, as if she can't quite believe what she just saw. “At James. You just  _ smiled _ at him.”

“Accidentally,” she tries. “I mean, he’s wearing  _ yellow. _ ”

“He looks good in yellow,” Mary adds quietly, and Lily curses herself for inwardly agreeing. She curses herself even further for finding Mary and her open appreciation beyond aggravating. 

“I forgot who I was smiling at,” Lily replies sharply. “He looks different.”

_ (Good different, _ that annoying little voice adds.  _ A very good type of different.) _

He looks strange and odd and much unlike he should, a beacon of blazing yellow a few seats away from her at the breakfast table.

“Looks nice,” Dorcas adds,

A tame way to put it, really.

Lily shakes her head and returns her eyes to the soggy cornflakes in the bowl before her. She is no longer hungry. Something feels unsettled, like Potter showing up in a brightly coloured jumper has completely altered the universe.

“No he doesn’t,” she lies hotly. “It’s just a colour.”


End file.
